Going into their game against the Cincinnati Bengals, not many people expected the Pittsburgh Steelers to win a shootout. Their offense had been better with Russell Wilson under center, but the past few weeks had been shakier. Meanwhile, the Bengals have one of the best offenses in the NFL. It didn’t seem like the Steelers could beat them in a firefight, but that’s exactly what happened. However, former NFL wide receiver Greg Jennings isn’t going to sing the Steelers’ offenses praises just yet.
“Russell Wilson’s numbers yesterday are fantastic, but Lamar Jackson, what he did in the two games against the Cincinnati Bengals, Jayden Daniels’ completion percentage record, Jalen Hurts was impressive,” Jennings said Monday on FS1’s Breakfast Ball. “They get torched by everyone. I’m not trying to downplay what Russell Wilson did, but this is what he was supposed to do against this team.”
It’s fair to say the Bengals don’t have the best defense in the world. That unit has been pretty bad for most of this year. However, that shouldn’t take anything away from what Wilson and the Steelers did. It’s not their fault the Bengals’ defense can’t stop a nosebleed.
Also, the Bengals are still an NFL team. More importantly, they are a divisional opponent for the Steelers. We’ve already seen the Baltimore Ravens play above their defensive metrics against the Steelers. Their defense had been worse than the Bengals, but when they played the Steelers, they looked impenetrable for much of the game.
That was another instance where the Steelers were supposed to have an offensive explosion, and they couldn’t even score a touchdown. Their offense also struggled against the Cleveland Browns, so it was fair to wonder if they’d continue to underperform against divisional opponents. The Steelers needed that kind of performance against the Bengals.
It proved they can win a shootout. The Steelers’ defense made splash plays but also allowed the Bengals to march up and down the field several times. Their offense was forced to play at a much faster pace than it is used to. The Bengals even started the fireworks with a defensive touchdown. The Steelers battled back and won because of Wilson and their offense.
Including Wilson in the same conversation with Jackson, Daniels, and Hurts says all it needs to as well. Those three quarterbacks have been among the NFL’s best this year. Before this season, it would’ve been insane to expect Wilson to perform at that level again. He’s continued to prove all of his doubters wrong.
The bottom line is the Steelers’ offense hasn’t been able to have a day like that since before Ben Roethlisberger suffered his season-ending elbow injury early in 2019. Maybe what they did against the Bengals isn’t as impressive as it seems, but considering the context of what their offense had been, it’s amazing. It shows they can function as a complete team.
